SOUTH HAVEN – The Dowagiac varsity volleyball team finished second at the South Haven Quad on Friday in its season opener.

Veteran Dowagiac coach Ryan Frontczak was pleased with the finish considering his team has so much inexperience.

“We were able to sweep through pool play to move into the finals,” he said. “We played a lot better as the tourney went on. In the beginning, we really showed out inexperience. The girls just kept getting better and better as the day went on.”

Dowagiac defeated Watervliet, Lake Michigan Catholic and South Haven in pool play.

The host Lady Rams got a little revenge in the championship match, beating the Chieftains in five games.

Alyssa Greenwood led Dowagiac in kills with 14. Andrea Bradshaw added nine kills and Kaisha Martin seven. Kiele Belew added four kills.

Danielle Taylor and Belew both had three blocks for Dowagiac, while Taylor also had four aces and 14 assists.

Chantel Baker led Dowagiac with 12 digs, with Devon Ownby finishing with eight and Taylor Gross seven.

Meagan Hojara added 12 assists for the Chieftains.

“We pretty much have an entire new line up in from last year,” Frontczak said. “We only have the four girls left from the last year’s team. The good news for this group is out of all of my groups, I have not seen a group improve as much as this one has from the time camp started until now.

“This group of girls is really showing that hard work pays off. We still have a long way to go to get were myself and the rest of the team want to be by the end of the season.”